TV Review – Pretty Little Liars (6B)

Pretty Little Lairs 6B achieved absolutely nothing and only served to cement a sense of deja vu for fans. Five Years Forward could have been the jolt of fresh inspiration needed to drive this show past seven seasons. As it stands, 6B has convinced some to abandon ship while other diehard fans will be holding on for dear life.

Pretty Little Lairs follows the lives of five girls wrapped up in a neverending mystery controlled by someone planning on ruining their lives. Finally free of A, Hanna, Spencer, Aria and Emily escape Rosewood only to be dragged back five years later to lie one more time for Ali.

Season 6B tracks the liars as they walk straight back into the same situation they had escaped. Their attitude towards authority figures has not changed and once again their lying lands them in hot water while an unknown entity manipulates them.

The Lairs have always been reactive. On the one and only occasion they try their hand at taking preemptive action, they botch the entire thing and A-moji wins, taking Hanna. We could default to the number of opportunities the liars had to share their problems with the police but of course, “maturity” doesn’t mean sense on this show.

This show did age in the five-year jump but only superficially. The age came from extreme scenes of nudity and enough alcohol to destroy one of their livers: alcohol served in wonderfully oversized wine glasses, but still. The writers felt the need to dabble dangerously on the edge of exposition, constantly making the Lairs remind each other that they survived or that they left Rosewood. The Lairs are essentially the same people they were in season one if their actions are to be believed. Although, the amount of jealousy flying around suggests their maturity levels have dropped significantly.

The most interesting aspect of this series comes in the form of shattered relationships. Seeing how all of their relationships broke down and watching that tension unravel between people who clearly grew apart is fascinating.

If there’s one thing this season of Pretty Little Lairs achieved, it was showing the world that a mystery can be awful and addictive at once. This season was repetitive and by the time the finale came around, we were simply too bored to care that Allison had married a psychopath who now controlled all of her money.

I, for one, am cured.

Pretty Little Lairs will be back this summer for it’s seventh and, let’s hope, final season.

Christina Bevan is a writer of many trades based in Wales.
Her debut novel, Caru In Wonderland, is available on ww.channillo.com, and she is currently working on her next novel.
Her TV favourites include: Gilmore Girls, The West Wing, Stitchers, Criminal Minds and Fringe.
Her Favourite authors include: Neil Gaiman, Keri Arthur, Kate Mosse and Lindsey Kelk.
Writer I Reviewer